CATSYNTH

cats synthesizers music art opinion

Author: catsynth

  • RPM 2007: First steps

    Report from the first day on the RPM challenge:

    The idea that I can spend a month, or even a fraction thereof, doing nothing but working on this album is laughable at best. There will be many distractions in the coming days, just as there have been today. Nonetheless, I made a point to take some first steps this evening..

    Based on the “arc” and narrative form I am defining for the album, I went in search of samples to use for the introduction and some beats to use for the first full section. The intro should be an old clip from a big band or jazz recording from the 1940s/1950s – I discovered a really good collection of public-domain big-band radio recordings on The Internet Archive, and quickly settled on my intro.

    Next up is selecting some initial beats for the beat-based / techo part of the album. I selected several drum-beat samples, and imported them into Emulator X. Using the beat-analysis (aka “Twistaloop” features), I created several seven-beat loops.

    The initial rhythmic section will employ a 7-beat meter and combine drum loops and Proteus patterns inside Emulator X, as well as 7-beat/14-beat Indian thekas for tabla. This will probably also be the first opportunity to use the DSI evolver in a compositional setting (as oppose to live improvisation).

    That will probably be all I get done tonite, as I take some time to relax while writing this blog entry and getting some “kitty love” from Luna (she's snuggling in on my chest as I write this).










  • RPM 2007: Getting ready to begin…

    Here's the first entry from my blog documenting my participation in the RPM Challenge to conceive and record an album within the 28 days of February:

    Well, it's the eve of RPM 2007. I have taken the organizers' advice and will not begin either composition or recording until tomorrow. But that doesn't mean I won't start planning in advance. I have an overall idea for the structure of the album, with the pieces fitting together as a single unit, and moving in an arc from more beat-based music to more free-form and experimental, though I haven't decided how it should end up. I am also preparing things technically for the project. Most of the work will be done on the computer using software synthesizers and sequencers – I will likely use some hardware instruments and acoustic samples as well.

    The goal is to do the creative work (and hopefully much of the recording) in 2 1/2 weeks to mirror the appromixately 2 1/2 years it took to complete my last album Aquatic…

    For those interested in following this effort, you can check in here and at my RPM page all throughout February.




  • CatSynth Pic: Waldorf Pulse and Cats

    This cute photo is originally from synx508 over at flickr comes to us via matrixsynth,

    Looks like we have mutual posts this week – in addition to our picking up the above photo, matrix has reposted Teodor Revolution from here.

    The cats-and-synths meme is growing! It's in our name, it's a frequent topic here, at matrixsynth and elsewhere, and the number of photos and videos of cats with synthesizers seems to be on the rise. What is it that makes cats and synthesizers go together? Or in some cases, not go together – there are several boorish comments posted on matrixsynth under Teodor Revolution. That aside, it might simply be the case that “synth people” tend to be “cat people.” Cats are small and curious and likely to explore our large racks of gear, finding warm nooks within. Additionally, cats are less likely to be banned from home studio environments. Certainly, Luna is a welcome presence in my studio. I would never extend the same priveledge to a dog (then again, I doubt I would let a dog enter my house at all).

    Please feel free to share you thoughts on the cat-synthesizer relationship below.







  • CatSynth pic: Teodor Revolution

    This photo comes to us from altermark at flickr. To quote: “Definitely a cat on synth picture for once!”

    Teodor is a lovely siberian cat, and the synth upon which he stands is a Future Retro Revolution. The Revolution is a very visually attractive instrument – I have seen it at NAMM several times. I don't really have a sense for it as a musical instrument, however. How does a Revolution compare to my Evolver, for example? The Evolver has four oscillators (plus a “fifth” via feedback that I often use), multiple filter options, and other timbral features, while the sequencer is somewhat awkward to use. It seems at first glance, the Revolution flips the balance between synthesizer and sequencer in favor of sequencing, which does have its place.

    Perhaps you can judge for yourself by listening to the audio examples. Certainly, we recently saw that Apu enjoys the “acid sounds” from the Revolution.






  • Standing with Cat

    Per suggestion of regular reader “Kitty” in response to a recent post, I will present some more of my own graphic and video work on this forum. The above picture is entitled “Standing with Cat.” It was originally done over a year and a half ago using the 3D modeling software Poser (on which I have commented a few times in the past). Previous digital art offerings include Green Kitties and Music of the (Blue) Spheres.

    Although this is an “early” work of mine in the medium, it still remains a personal favorite. It has elements of both abstraction and realism simultaneously, even within the female and cat figures (does that make it post-modern?). The pose of the female figure was inspired by a photo print in my collection by photographer and friend Luxe Zeigler.

    Another element of note is the tabby texture for the cat, which was created by graphic artist Lyne of Lyne's Creations, based on her real cat Travis. Astute observers might recognize Travis in the CatSynth banner as well. Sadly, Travis passed away late last year. I passed along my sympathies to Lyne at the time, being a “fan” of Travis as well as his late brother Clancy, whose fur and eye coloring are quite similar to Luna's. Look for Clancy in some dark, surreal or abstract works in the near future.






  • Fun with stats: Most popular car colors

    This chart represents the most popular automotive colors for North America in 2004.

    That is one fine-looking chart!

    but which one is the new black?





  • New tracks up at MySpace

    Well, I have managed do to something productive with my time out bicycling and hanging at the cafe (can one really refer to anyplace as “the cafe” in Santa Cruz?). I have uploaded some new and extended tracks for MySpace Music:

    I don't really have the time or patience to figure out how to really embed the player here, so a pretty picture and link will do for now.

    I have gotten a lot of feedback during the time I have had a Myspace Music page to have longer clips – but this needs to be balanced against the need to protect my work, especially those that are commercially available. Anyhow, I figure the longer versions of The Wooden Fish and East Bloc Call to Prayer can only help. I also uploaded a clip from Dorian Grey's Box, the recent art installation, for the enjoyment of those who prefer Myspace over podcasts.

    Hey, I actually got a couple more dollars in royalties from iTunes Europe today, might even pay for this fine coffee drink here…




  • Weekend Cat Blogging #86: Even when things get tough…

    Well, it's been a rather difficult weekend here, one of the worst in a long time, actually – regular readers know I prefer not to discuss details of my personal life, but things are bad enough that not even the whacky exploits of Burbed and other refuges in snarky humor have been able to help.

    But we at CatSynth are troopers, and shall go ahead with Weekend Cat Blogging regardless. Here is a picture from about a year ago of Luna enjoying her perch on the barstool. She is of course elegant as always.

    In all seriousness, Luna is a great comfort when things are difficult, she is a master of “kitty love” with purrs, head-butts, nose kisses and snugglies. Here is a candid shot of us enjoying a moment together on the couch, taken with the little built-in webcam on my new MacBook:

    For something a little more festive, please visit this weekend's hosts Kate and Bustopher (and let's not forget Harmon who seems eager to take a nap). There's a great cat-and-human photo leading off the party.





  • Why the pet market?!

    Even with the daily violence we hear about from Iraq, this one hits home:

    Birdcage bomb kills 15 pet lovers in Baghdad

    A bomb disguised as a birdcage killed 15 animal lovers in a Baghdad pet market today, in the latest attack apparently designed to disrupt a city-wide security crackdown.

    From the BBC:

    The blast ripped through the Ghazil market in the city centre, a popular destination which sells dogs, cats, birds and other animals.

    It's heartbreaking to hear about peaceful persuits, especially my own in music, art and animals, being specifically targeted. Why go after the pet market and animal lovers? Certainly, markets in general are common targets of violence, where large numbers of people gather. But maybe some markets or gatherings are more vulnerable than others:

    The open soukh is a popular attraction for Sunnis and Shias alike, farmers and pet store owners are drawn by the reptiles, tropical fish and other exotic animals in a city where open air attractions are rare.

    However, some extremist Islamist groups in Iraq have issued edicts denouncing the ownership of pets as 'haraam' – prohibited under Islamic law. This is not the first attack on the market – it was also hit eight weeks ago.

    So do pets come under the same heading as music for these extreme Islamists? Or even just having a little bit of enjoyment seeing and interacting with the animals when there are so few options for brightening one's day? And what did the animals do to deserve any of this?

    Death, destruction and suppression of joy – why would anyone want to follow these people?





  • CatSynth video: Apu the "Acid Cat"

    Gustavo (aka “audioel” on YouTube) submitted this rather appropriate (and very cute) video:

    Apu really likes the TB-303 acid sounds of the Future-Retro Revolution demos

    Of course, he is a cat and tries to use “kitty science” uncover the source of the sound, but to no avail.

    Looks like the laptop is a black macbook, similar (or the same) as the one I got last December. I'm wondering whether the tb303 track is just a recording, or a softsynth running on the macbook.